


the consequence of living in between

by punkpixieprince



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Coming Out, Gen, Nonbinary Character, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-07
Updated: 2016-07-07
Packaged: 2018-07-22 04:44:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7420432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/punkpixieprince/pseuds/punkpixieprince
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I can’t man up,” Pidge told everyone. “I’m a girl.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	the consequence of living in between

**Author's Note:**

> so this is just. tumblrfic that i wrote b/c i have Opinions on nonbinary pidge. technically, I heavily implied that shiro is trans as well, but it's not explicit so uh. sorry about that. this is about nb pidge, and trans dude shiro just Happens To Be There. 
> 
> tl;dr all of ur faves are trans. sorry no take backs
> 
> title from [heirloom](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auOivVnhI00) by sleeping at last b/c i was listening to it when i wrote this. don't read too deeply into it.

“I can’t man up,” Pidge told everyone. “I’m a girl.”

And it was true. Pidge couldn’t man up. Being a boy… felt like a lie, even if Pidge didn’t exactly go out of their way to act any different, any boyish. It was weird, not right, whenever someone said ‘he’ and meant Pidge. And Pidge knew they were lying to the team, if only by omission. So Pidge told them the truth, and everyone seemed fine with it. Even Lance, after he got over his initial, well. Lance-ness.

But no one asked for Pidge’s name, and Pidge… felt relieved.

Shiro called Pidge Katie, but only the one time, in private. Everyone kept calling Pidge Pidge. And Pidge had been Pidge for so long, Katie felt… weird. Not-quite-right. It was the same feeling Pidge got whenever people called Pidge ‘he’. But Pidge felt guilty for thinking that, because Katie was who they really were, right? Just because Pidge had pretended to be a boy for so long didn’t mean they suddenly were one. Pidge didn’t feel like a boy. But Pidge didn’t… feel comfortable as Katie. Not anymore.

Pidge didn’t really know how to explain any of that, so they were grateful no one asked. Shiro was probably going to ask eventually. Shiro knew the most out of everyone. Shiro knew who Pidge used to be.

But time passed and they went on missions and Shiro didn’t ask.

So Pidge went to him first.

“Hey, Shiro,” Pidge said, entering the training deck. Shiro started in surprise, and narrowly missed getting hit by the holographic dummy. He quickly turned back and dispatched it.

“Pidge, hey,” Shiro said, turning off the program and walking over. “What’s up? Everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine, I just…” Pidge ran a hand through their hair. “Why don’t you call me Katie?”

Shiro made a strange face that Pidge honestly couldn’t interpret. “Do you… want me to call you Katie?” he asked.

Pidge stared at a spot over Shiro’s left shoulder. “No.”

“Okay,” Shiro said. “Then I won’t.”

“But–” Pidge cut themself off, frustrated. “You know.”

“Yes,” Shiro said slowly. “But you haven’t told the others, and… if you prefer Pidge, than that’s who you are.”

“I told them I wasn’t a boy,” Pidge said.

“I know,” Shiro said gently, taking a step forward. “But Pidge… it’s okay if you’re not a girl, either.” He crouched slightly, catching Pidge’s eye. It made Pidge feel a bit uncomfortable.

“I said I was,” Pidge said. “I don’t want… I hate lying. And it’s like… I was trying not to lie anymore, but I think I did _anyway_.”

“It’s not a lie if you’re still figuring it out,” Shiro said, put his hand on Pidge’s shoulder. Pidge could feel the coolness of the metal even through their shirt. “Maybe you’re a girl, but only sometimes. Maybe you’re not a girl or a boy. We’ll love you the same no matter what. To us, you’ll always be Pidge, if that’s who you want to be.”

“It is,” Pidge said. “I… I am Pidge. Even if I’m not a boy.”

“That’s okay too,” Shiro said. Pidge rubbed their face.

“How are you so…” they gestured helplessly, “good about this?”

“My last name is Shirogane,” Shiro said.

“Shiro Shirogane?” Pidge said. “That’s a little…”

“Yeah, I was a bit less inventive than you,” Shiro said with a grin. “I just went by my last name until it sort of stuck. I like it, though.”

“Oh,” Pidge said. “ _Oh_.”

“You can always talk to me if you want,” Shiro said. “But you know the rest of the team will be there for you too.”

“I know,” Pidge said. “I do… I do know that. I trust you guys. It’s just… you know.” They shrugged. “I don’t want them to be mad at me, or frustrated, or whatever. For coming clean and then… coming clean _again_.” It was embarrassing, to say the least.

“They won’t,” Shiro said. “You know they won’t. No one will treat you any differently, no matter how many times you tell us who or what you are.”

“Yeah,” Pidge said, taking a deep breath. “Yeah.”

The next day, Pidge stood up from the dinner table again.

“I have something to say.”

**Author's Note:**

> originally posted [here](http://poppunkpixieprince.tumblr.com/post/147054764081/tumblrfic-the-consequence-of-living-in-between).


End file.
